I would like to nominate Andy Seibt as the greatest masters swimmer of all time. For those of you who are unaware, Andy swam the Big Shoulders open water race this weekend (it is also the USMS OW National Championship meet) and absolutely destroyed the field. And this was no slouch of a field: two college swimmers - one went a 4:24 in the 500 free in March the other a 3:47 in the 400IM! For comparisons sake, Andy went a 5:06 and 4:43 respectively in those events. Startling, I know! But it doesn't end there. Adam Dawkins, who in March beat Andy by more than a full minute in the 1,000 free and is also an experienced Open Water swimmer having completed the English Channel just 4 weeks ago was no match for our hero. Andy beat Adam by 3 seconds per 100M!!! But it DOESN'T even end there!!! There were two more swimmers in the event who beat Andy by a minute or more in the mile in March. Both of these swimmers were bested by Andy by several minutes.
Just how good was this swim? Well it is not a stretch to say that it was the single greatest swim in the history of USMS. BY FAR. Imagine a 51 year old man going a 15:15 in the 1650 or 9:10 in the 1,000. It is difficult to compare open water events to pool events, but the margin of victory (one and half minutes over 5,000 M) over the quality field cannot be over-stated.
Quite honestly I can see no reason why Andy shouldn't be put in the International Swimming Hall of Fame on this swim alone. I know that John Smith just threw up in his mouth, but until Mr. Smith starts going a 43 in the 100 free he is panty waste compared to Andy. In fact, we all owe Andy a debt of gratitude because we no longer have to view the Smiths with any kind of awe as their collection of swims (as well as the swims of many others) have been so greatly eclipsed by this feat.
This swim should reinvent the sport of Masters swimming. Been stuck in the same rut for 14 years of Masters swimming? A good number of top 10 times per year but never that huge breakthrough. Well here you have it folks. Next year I too will have my 20% improvement. Mark me down for the World Record in the 50M free. Anything is possible, just dream big baby. Although technically why wait a year. Andy improved this much since June.
One ancillary note is we can add to this story is that we can finally put to bed the "late bloomers theory," as postulated by my friend Ion Beza. But that's a whole 'nother story.
(PS: Andy if this posts somehow ends up in front of you I personally want to tell you that I am sorry you have been put through this. But I will continue to be vociferous about the validity of this swim. From all accounts you are a swell guy. But you need to be honest with yourself and recognize that you are not capable of this miraculous feat. That is a tough thing to do, I am sure. But you didn't ask for the error and you don't have anything to be ashamed about. You are still one heck of a swimmer. Just not the greatest of all time.)
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One thing to take into consideration is that Andy was placed in a heat separate from the vast majority of "elite" level swimmers at this competition... I watched the race and am surprised that no one has officially (apparently) contested the results of this race... there is no way that Andy Seibt swam the best time of the day. I know of at least two former members of the U.S. national team that participated in that race, as well as a few (current) top NCAA qualifiers... I repeat there is no way this result is correct. Maybe he skipped a bouy or there was something wrong with the timing system? How does a man his age DROP nearly 13 MINUTES from his best time on that exact same course?
And more to the point all these people who are defending him without using common sense are contributing to him getting away with it*. The idea that some are better equipped to swim in the OW is plausible. But we are not talking about one swimmer beating one other swimmer who is a little bit faster than him. We are talking about Andy beating a collection of swimmers who are completely beyond his level when he has done this race several times and never shown anything remotely to that kind of potential.
Oh and That Guy, it was not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the swim was legit. The only thing that has been shown is that he left at 8:10 and came in at 9:06. What he did in between is completely in question. Maybe not by you, but by people who have actually spent time looking into this.
* By getting away with it I mean one of two things: either he cheated or he made an honest mistake. The only problem with the honest mistake angle, though, is that it had to be very very large mistake so I have a hard time thinking he doesn't know.
One thing to take into consideration is that Andy was placed in a heat separate from the vast majority of "elite" level swimmers at this competition... I watched the race and am surprised that no one has officially (apparently) contested the results of this race... there is no way that Andy Seibt swam the best time of the day. I know of at least two former members of the U.S. national team that participated in that race, as well as a few (current) top NCAA qualifiers... I repeat there is no way this result is correct. Maybe he skipped a bouy or there was something wrong with the timing system? How does a man his age DROP nearly 13 MINUTES from his best time on that exact same course?
And more to the point all these people who are defending him without using common sense are contributing to him getting away with it*. The idea that some are better equipped to swim in the OW is plausible. But we are not talking about one swimmer beating one other swimmer who is a little bit faster than him. We are talking about Andy beating a collection of swimmers who are completely beyond his level when he has done this race several times and never shown anything remotely to that kind of potential.
Oh and That Guy, it was not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the swim was legit. The only thing that has been shown is that he left at 8:10 and came in at 9:06. What he did in between is completely in question. Maybe not by you, but by people who have actually spent time looking into this.
* By getting away with it I mean one of two things: either he cheated or he made an honest mistake. The only problem with the honest mistake angle, though, is that it had to be very very large mistake so I have a hard time thinking he doesn't know.
